Women march to take back night in 19th annual event

"What do we want? Safe streets! When do we want it? Now!"

More than 400 women marched through the streets of Ann Arbor at the 19th annual Take Back the Night march and rally held on a Saturday night last spring, shouting, chanting and carrying signs declaring, "Our bodies, our lives, our right to decide."

Rackham fourth-year student Troy Gordon, who watched the marchers walk down Main Street, said that while he wasn't marching, he was with the women in spirit.

"I think (the march) is incredibly fabulous," Gordon said. "I wish there were 10 times as many people marching and 100 times as many people watching."

A Pizza House employee, whose car was stopped in traffic by the marchers, got out of her car and cheered in support.

Another observer of the march, LSA sophomore Chris Frost, said more education about issues of women's safety is necessary for men.

"Whenever I'm hanging around a girl and she expresses a concern about being out at night, it strikes me as odd since I never have to think about it," Frost said.

As the marchers walked down East Madison Street, male voices called from the windows of the West Quad residence hall, "get on your knees, baby!"

LSA senior Brenna DeVaney, who did not hear the calls, said she was not surprised by the sentiments.

"It makes me sad to think that men are too threatened to be supportive," DeVaney said.

Kalimah Johnson, a Detroit Police Department domestic violence social worker, said she did not hear the calls either, but said she battles ignorance every day working with the predominantly male Detroit Police Department.

"This kind of behavior shows that our society as a whole condones violence against women," Johnson said following the march. "The men who (shouted) are basically intimidated by the strength of women united. I think we can fight it through education and constantly using avenues like this march and rally."

While only women marched, a rally held earlier in the night on the Diag included both women and men, who gathered in protest of violence against women.

"We are here to do healing work - to reclaim what is ours - the night," said Melissa Danforth, co-coordinator of the Ann Arbor Tenants Union, who spoke at the rally.

Two survivors of sexual assault publicly shared their stories at the rally.

LSA junior Deborah Frankle told the crowd she was raped, burned and beaten by her boyfriend eight years ago.

"I cannot emphasize enough how important it is not to blame the survivor," said Frankle, who works for the Campus Publicity Network that programs and fundraises for Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center.

One in four college-aged women are victims of sexual assault or attempted sexual assault at some point during their college careers, according to SAPAC reports. Of male college students, 35 percent said that under certain circumstances, they would commit acts that met the legal definitions of rape, and 84 percent of men who committed rape did not label it as rape, the report stated.

Instead of blaming a woman for provoking the attack or for not reporting the crime, it is most important to be supportive and to tell her sexual assault is never the woman's fault, Frankle said.

Frankle said when she thinks back to the night of her assault, she agonizes over what she could have done to prevent the attack. But in the aftermath, she said, it's not about regret, "it's about finding your strength, your voice and your spirit."

Johnson involved the audience in the reading of her poems "Rape" and "I'm Not a Victim" from her collection "Women Who Survive."

Following the poetry was a performance by the Emily Berry Dance Company, whose mission is to educate about violence against women and to help women recover from sexual assault.

DeVaney, who was one of the coordinators of the event, said the rally was a time for all people to unite against violence against women. Despite protest from several men, the march remained for women only, she said.

"The march is a chance for women to not be escorted by men and to be empowered," DeVaney said. "I wish that men could understand that there are different ways to support women and letting them have their own space is an incredible way to be supportive."

To kick off the march, coordinators of the evening read their list of demands they said would eventually include "everything that pissed (them) off, and everything that (they) want to change in this world."

The coordinators demanded that "men listen when women say no," "immediate action be taken when women and children report sexual and physical abuse" and the "media publish rape and domestic violence hotline numbers routinely and add domestic violence to the crime map."

SAPAC's 24-hour Crisis Line, can be reached at 936-3333, students interested in volunteering can call 763-5865.

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